Magpies avoid big guns in draw

NEWCASTLE and Chelsea have avoided the biggest threats to their Champions League qualification dreams after being seeded for today’s draw.

The Magpies and Chelsea, have been seeded 11th and sixth respectively for the third and final qualifying round draw in Nyon, Switzerland. Scottish champions Rangers are 12th of the 16 sides rated as the strongest in the preliminary knock-out stage, while Old Firm rivals Celtic will also be seeded if they get past Lithuanian side FBK Kaunas in the second round.

That means that all four will not have to contend with the likes of top seeds Lazio, Deportivo la Coruna, Galatasaray or Ajax. Instead, they are guaranteed a two-legged tie against one of the 28 unseeded clubs still involved in the second round, a list which includes Bohemians, Benfica, Slavia Prague and CSKA Sofia.